Some Misunderstandings

"Is she Shizune?"

Staring at the black-haired girl before him, Uchiha Yue just couldn't reconcile this perfect little beauty with the Shizune he remembered from the original story.

When Uchiha Yue watched the original series, he'd always thought Shizune was a rather unremarkable girl. She had short hair, always looked serious, and constantly wore that dark gray kimono. Her figure couldn't compare to a knockout like Tsunade. Among the many colorful characters in the story, Shizune was undoubtedly one of the most ordinary—and easiest to overlook.

But what about the Shizune standing right in front of him?

She had long black hair and wore a pink kimono patterned with cherry blossoms. She was absolutely adorable!

Especially with that sweet, slightly vacant look on her face, Shizune had unwittingly hit Uchiha Yue right in the soft spot. He couldn't connect her at all with the serious woman from the original story.

Shizune seemed to notice the astonished look in Uchiha Yue's eyes. A faint blush appeared on her fair skin.

Seeing Shizune's adorable expression left Uchiha Yue at a loss. Just how had Tsunade trained her? How had she turned a perfectly sweet little girl into such a serious, unremarkable woman?

But Shizune quickly came to her senses. She had come here on business, after all. She then walked over to Sarutobi Shinsuke and bowed. "Teacher Shinsuke, Lady Tsunade sent me to find Yue. I heard he was taking an exam here, so I came to look for him. I'm sorry if I interrupted you."

Who could resist a girl as adorable as Shizune? And Sarutobi Shinsuke was no exception.

Watching Shizune bow to him, Sarutobi Shinsuke rubbed his nose and chuckled. "So Lady Tsunade sent you. Then you should hurry along with Yue."

As he spoke, Sarutobi Shinsuke crouched down and lightly nudged Uchiha Yue's shoulder with his elbow. In a low voice, he said, "Yue, Shizune's a good girl. Make sure you cherish her! I never appreciated Haruko's kindness back in the day, and I've been single ever since. Now that a girl has come looking for you, don't let her down. Got it?"

Uchiha Yue glared at his mentor, utterly at a loss. He couldn't exactly point out that he was only four years old, could he?

Still, children in the Naruto world seemed to mature early. Hadn't Uchiha Obito been in love with Rin for ages?

Besides, Uchiha Yue had seen several couples at the Ninja Academy, so he'd grown somewhat used to it.

When Uchiha Yue looked back at Shizune, he saw her cute expression and smiled. "Your name's Shizune, right? We're about the same age, so there's no need to be so formal and call me Yue-kun. You can just call me Yue, like Teacher Shinsuke does."

Uchiha Yue noticed Sarutobi Shinsuke sneakily giving him a thumbs-up. He shot him a helpless look, then continued, "Shizune, let's go see Lady Tsunade first. You know what she's like..."

"Mm!"

Before Uchiha Yue could finish, Shizune nodded with a smile. "Sure, let's go!"

After hearing her answer, Uchiha Yue said goodbye to Sarutobi Shinsuke and set off with Shizune toward Tsunade's place. Since Uchiha Yue had lived two lives and knew how to put girls at ease, he and Shizune had become fast friends by the time they arrived. They even chatted about everything under the sun. Shizune told him some of Tsunade's likes and dislikes, making Uchiha Yue think that little girls really were easy to fool.

Just as Uchiha Yue and Shizune were about to reach Tsunade's house, a cold smile suddenly tugged at the corner of his mouth.

At the same moment, Shizune noticed his smile. She paused, then asked, "Yue, are those two Ninja Academy students behind us following you?"

"Oh? You noticed them too, Shizune?"

Hearing her, Uchiha Yue realized he shouldn't underestimate Shizune's abilities.

That was right. As soon as Uchiha Yue and Shizune had left the Ninja Academy, he'd noticed two suspicious figures following them. At first, he'd assumed they were just Shizune's admirers. After all, things like that weren't uncommon at the Ninja Academy. Some lovesick boys liked to follow the girls they fancied just to see where they lived.

But just before Uchiha Yue and Shizune reached Tsunade's house, he realized the two people following them were familiar faces. He'd never imagined those two would team up and follow them together.

What surprised Uchiha Yue now wasn't the two people tailing him, though. It was Shizune's abilities.

He hadn't expected a cute little girl like Shizune to notice someone following them just as quickly as he had.

After all, Uchiha Yue had detected the two pursuers because he possessed unusually powerful spiritual energy.

Shizune didn't have his exceptional spiritual energy, so she must have learned to spot people tailing her through Tsunade's training.

At that moment, Uchiha Yue realized Tsunade's teaching wasn't as useless as he'd imagined. Shizune's skills alone were enough to prove Tsunade was a capable teacher.

Still, before he could think any more about Tsunade's teaching, Uchiha Yue decided he should deal with the two tails behind them first.

Then...

Uchiha Yue casually waved to Shizune and turned around. "I was wondering who was following me. I never thought it'd be you two, Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko. Did you follow me all the way here just to watch me train? Do you think the Hatake Clan's Hatake Sword Style and the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist are both inferior to the training techniques of the Uchiha Clan?"

Just as Uchiha Yue finished speaking...

Sure enough, Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko could no longer hold back their anger. They stepped out and appeared before Uchiha Yue.

Unfortunately, it was only after they revealed themselves that Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko realized Uchiha Yue had deliberately provoked them. Bringing up their clans was the only way he could make them lose their cool and come out on their own.

But now that they were standing in front of Uchiha Yue, Hatake Dansui felt there was no point in sneaking around anymore.

Hatake Dansui then walked straight up to Uchiha Yue with Hyuga Anihiko. He glanced at Shizune, then said coldly, "Uchiha Yue, you don't get to judge how good the Hatake Clan's Hatake Sword Style is! Anihiko and I came to challenge you today. We only followed you because we didn't want to interrupt your date. Don't get the wrong idea!"

"Exactly! If we hadn't been worried about interrupting your date, we would've challenged you as soon as you left the Ninja Academy!"

As soon as Hatake Dansui finished speaking, Hyuga Anihiko looked at Uchiha Yue with envy. Clearly, he was jealous of how popular Uchiha Yue was with girls.

Seeing that the two had obviously misunderstood, Uchiha Yue opened his mouth several times to explain, but couldn't bring himself to say anything.

Shizune, meanwhile, noticed that Uchiha Yue didn't even try to explain. Her cheeks flushed, and she lowered her head shyly.

Seeing that Shizune had misunderstood too, Uchiha Yue could only suffer in silence. He wasn't some kind of lolicon, and he had no interest in little girls.

So Uchiha Yue could only vent his anger on Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko. After all, they were the ones who had come to challenge him!

Uchiha Yue coolly sized up Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko. Then he shook his head and sighed. "You two still have a long way to go with your training."

"Uchiha Yue, if you don't have the guts to accept our challenge, just say so!"

"Exactly! You're just dismissing our strength. Who do you think you are?"

Before Uchiha Yue could finish speaking, Hatake Dansui and Hyuga Anihiko flew into a rage, rolling up their sleeves and preparing to teach him a lesson.

But Uchiha Yue simply raised a hand. "When I said you weren't as strong as me, I wasn't refusing your challenge. I just don't have much time."

He pointed at Hyuga Anihiko, then at Hatake Dansui. "Come at me together! I'm in a hurry!"